Week 12 | Photostory

Tools used to edit photos:
masks
marquee selection tools
movement tool
paintbrush tool

Week 11 | Portrait

The difficulties I had while completing this assignment were twofold. The first was that I had to use a camera I was not used to whose display didn't display the photos correctly which made it mostly guesswork whether or not a photo would look good. The second problem I had was finding a willing subject to work with, I ended up working with my mom, and then she didn't really like having her photo taken when I did but she did it anyway for me.

Week 10 | Text, Clone, Patch and Paint Tools

for the clone tool I used it to get rid of a crack in the bench I took the photo of the camera on. I found this distracting when I looked at the photo and I thought I would also get rid of some of the dirt on the bench

For the photos I added text to I used it to add a watermark in the lower righthand corner so that they would be identified as mine.

Week 9 | Filters

The image I chose to burn and dodge was one of the images of my mothers camera that I took. For this image I chose to use the burn and dodge to darken the background of the image to make it stand out less and brighten the camera to make it stand out more.

For my first filter I chose to  add noise to one of the images of the old camera to make the old camera look like it was taken with a old camera. Thought it was kinda interesting idea and I think it came out well.

For my other filter I chose to blur out the city in the background more to  make the background look more interesting and to make the truck in the foreground look more interesting.

Week 8 | Two Color Adjusted Photos

The photos I chose to edit were both of my photos that i used to show two different color scheme. The first of the photos has a monochromatic color scheme. For this one I chose to use light and color adjustments to make the photo look like it was taken more towards sundown. I think this makes the photo a little more interesting and gives the greens a different shade than most leaves have in photos.

The second photo is, or was, showing a complementary color scheme. For this one I felt like the flowers were the focus of the image so I decided to have some fun with it. I started by making two layers of the original photo. The top one I made black and white. Then I created a mask on that layer that had the flowers inside of it which made it so the flowers weren't affected by the black and white change made to the image and makes them stand out well from the background.

Week 7 | Selection Tools

 For this weeks assignment and next week my family and i are on Bar Harbor Maine on vacation. My photos for this week I took during the towns July 4th parade.

 The first photo that I chose to edit was of a guy standing in a fire engine during the parade. I liked the original photo but I wanted to get rid of the buildings and crowd around the edges of the photo to focus more on the guy in the engine.

 The second photo I chose to edit was of the towns high school marching band. I like the original photo because I got a view strait down one of the lines of musicians but I wanted to get ride of the car that is in the bottom edge of the photo.

Week 6 | Landscape

For my landscape photos I took them from the view from my back porch. The biggest Thing I learned was how to use a tripod. When I tried to take these photos without A tripod all of photos came out with a very obvious shake to them. I was using a larger lense on my camera then I normally do so that I could zoom in more on the mountains farther from my house. I found the tripod to do a excellent job of eliminating the shake from my photos.

Composition | Leading line

I was really excited we got to research a topic of our own interest this week, especially with the subject this week being aesthetics and composition I chose one of my favorites, but one I still need to work on seeing, the leading line. The leading lines) are lines) that draw the user's eye to a subject of the photo by having lines traveling to the subject or to a vanishing point. And example is this:

Leading line create a connection from the foreground to the background of an image and add depth and interest to the image. Leading line are supposed to be everywhere but I have personal trouble seeing, finding, and photographing them, but I feel the results from shots using leading lines speak for themselves. These shots have interest and are very visually appealing.

Composition | Framing

For this week assignment I was on vacation in Louisville, Kentucky and for my framing shots I decided to use the inside of the bus we rode down to the city in as my framing device of r most of these shots ands I don’t think the results are the greatest examples of framing I could have had but I chose to use item anyway because I feel the bus gives the photos a connectedness that I enjoyed and they show of some of the challenges of trying to take photos while moving.

The first three photos are out the front of the bus windshield, my original intent was to try and get photos of the bank building because even from a distance i found its architecture very interesting to look at. What I find very interesting in these photos is that between the three of the the focus of the shot moves from the building to the truck in front of us, an expected but interesting subject and I felt the showed framing well, the one thing I would change is that I would have walked to the front of the bus and got rid of the stupid sticker on the windshield which distracts from the rest of the photo.

The fourth shot was of a bridge I saw in passing on the way into the city, For the photo I chose to use the ground as the subject of the shot to frame away the bottom of the photos I had been taking of it before which was mostly just water but I thought the ground would work better. The one thing I didn’t think of was the fact I was taking photos sideways out of a moving bus which caused the texture of the ground to smear and distract from the bridge.

The final shot I my favorite even though I didn’t come out how I had expected. I had planned to a take photos of the cars in front of the bus but this time when I tried, the dirt and grime from the windshield was the only thing I could get into focus but I feel it made for made very interesting shot na dI think the framing of the inside of the bus and the windshield wipers combined to make a great frame.

Composition | Rule of thirds

This week I was participating in a nation skill competition in Louisville, Kentucky and so my subjects were many things I saw throughout my days there. The first set of photos shows my friend Beny participating in a contest they had set up. I wish I could say I had a single clue what is was about but I really couldn't tell. The difference the rule of the thirds makes in these photos is that in the photo using the rule of thirds there is more tension as he gets ready to compete whereas the second doesn’t have the same amount of interest or draw to it.

The second and third sets of photos show pieces of artwork that were on display for a contest about making art using welding, the results were beautiful to behold, The second set shows a piece of artwork one contestant made of knights jousting. For the the rule of thirds in these photos I actually prefer the photos without it, with this work of art I wanted to see every painstakingly made nook and cranny on the the knights and I feel you can’t see that as well in the rule of thirds shot.

The third set of photos are of a tractor scene a contestant made at the welding contest. The effect the rule of thirds has in this photo gives me a mixed feeling about it. I think it does add more interest and draw to the subject, but at the same time with the many lights in the background and many objects made of a similar color to the subject, without the focus provided by the centering shot the rule of thirds doesn’t capture the subject as well as the centering shot

Color and Light | Set 2

For My images I went with my sunglasses and their case as a subject. I feel this worked because the lenses of the glasses work to provide a reflection of the lights I was using and the case has an interesting texture and works well with shadows to show where the light comes from. For my lights I chose to use all of the lights in my room. The lights i used are the main overhead light of my room, the reading lamp by my bed, the Christmas lights on my shelf, and the light of my TV screen. The first image is using my reading lamp and as a key light which can be seen in the shadow on the back of the case and in the reflection on the lenses and and the Christmas lights as a secondary light which can be seen in the background of the image. I think this image shows the lighting and the shadows it produces well and I like how the Christmas lights in the background of the image don’t dominate the image but still draw attention to it. I think this image is bad when paired with the other two images because after I took this image I moved the setup for the other images which I feel makes it harder to see the changes in lighting. The second image uses only one light, my overhead light, I only used one light because i really wanted to show off that the shadows were coming straight down from above the subject and I didn’t want anything lighting those shadows. I moved the setup of my subject because I felt with the original setup you couldn't see enough of the shadow below the glass so I moved it so the ear pieces create a long shadow underneath the glasses. I think the second image has too much interesting things in the background which distract from the glasses themselves. The final image is done using the light of my TV and the Christmas lights again. I was originally just use the TV but the image wound up too dim and so I had to add the Christmas lights for this image. Where this image is good is it stands out from the other images by having a different colored key light. I think it also shows off where the light is coming from by having the outside back of the case be lit up and the inside be dark. I also think that the Christmas light serve to add more light to the image as a whole but do not over power the light of the TV which is the focus. Where is think this image is weaker is that in the image the viewer can see the inside of the case but it is out of focus and thus you can’t really see any detail about it which I feel would have been interesting to see. I also feel that there is a distracting pile of variously colored stuff in the background which detracts from the image. Overall I feel the two biggest weaknesses that all of my image share are that I moved the setup of the subject between the first image and the other two and that each image is taken from a different angle as opposed to one angle for all of the photos which could have showed off the change in lighting better.

Color and Light | Set 1

Monochrome

Complementary 

 

Macro Photographs and Collage

These photos were taken in and around my house of many different subjects. I first took a few over 70 photos and came back and looked them over with my dad. We found 13 different shots that we really liked. I then took what I liked and didn't like in the first photo shoot and went out again. These time I re shoot some subjects that hadn't come out well in the first round of photos. Unfortunately this photo shoot was cut short, so I came in with 45 photos this time and went through the same process with my dad to narrow it down to 20 photos that he and I liked. The collages were made in a browser based program call Fotor.

Hope you all enjoy

One Object, Several Views - Compare/contrast

Both of these images are my favorite of the several I took. To explain why let me start with what these images have in common, first they both are taken vertically which takes away much of the background and brings the focus more onto the camera itself, which is where it should be in the images. Second, in both pictures the camera holds dominance over the image, which is how it should be when you have a specific subject. I do however feel that the camera in the top holds less power over the image but I think it is the the first object the viewers eye in drawn to. Finally they both showcase the texture of the camera itself, when I have seen this old camera it always interested me that it had a very leathery texture which contrasts heavily with most modern cameras. Both of these images shows off that texture in a way that makes it feel like you can reach out and touch them.

I like the bottom one more because, in the top image, the camera holds less power over the image, your eye is drawn the the man in the background, my Dad, which I feel distracts from the subject, the camera. Also the bottom image shows off more textures of the camera, while the top only really shows the leathery grip, that is the only part of the cameras texture in enough focus to be clear. The bottom one, however shows the grip, as well as having the lens in focus, and you can even see some cobwebs on the camera which accents its age. In conclusion, the bottom better shows off more of the camera which was the subject of the image.

One Object, Several Views - All photos